Fluid meter



July 14, 1942. H. CHRISMAN IET AL 2,289,697

FLUID METER Filed Nov. 9, 1959 .6- Y @6 9 4 56 INVENTORS Patented `Iuly14, 1942 'l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLUID METER Application November9, 1939, Serial No. 303,634

Claims. (Cl. 73--246) The present invention relates to meters intendedprimarily formeasuring very small flows, such as the gasoline consumedin operating a gasoline motor propelled automobile.

It is an object of the invention to provide a meter which is small andcompact and which is responsive to very small flows.

Another obj ect is the provision of a meter which is of simpleconstruction, is of light weight and is relatively inexpensive tomanufacture.

A further object is the provision of a meter having a relatively smalloverall pressure loss.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from aconsideration of. the following specification, taken in connection withthe ac-` companying drawing, wherein I have shown a preferred embodimentof the invention by way of example, and wherein:

Figure l is a vertical section through the center of the meter,

Figure 2 is a bottom elevation of the meter with the bottom cover andbottom piston heads removed, Y

Figure 3 is a section taken through a cylinder and piston on lineIII-III of Figure l,

Figure Liis an enlarged side view of a piston with certain parts insection,

Figure 5 is a section of the casing taken on the line V-V of Figure 2,the valve and crankshaft being removed,

Figure 6 is an elevation of a detail of the piston,

Figure '7 is a side elevation of the valve member,

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the valve driver member, and

Figure 9 isa side elevation of the valve spring.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a casing I having cylinders 2and 3 bored therethrough and providing partitions or walls 4 and 5separating the cylinders from a valve or distributing chamber 6. Liners'I and 8 of brass or other suitable material are pressed into thecylinders to provide a wearing surface therefor, if desired. Preferablythe casing is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy in order toeliminate as much weight as possible, but any other suitable materialmay be employed, and, if desired, the case may be formed in two parts onthe section line V-V of Figure 2 and suitably secured together. A topcover 9 is provided, having a boss I0 which is bored'and threaded at I Ito provide an inlet to the meter communicating with a middle recess I2in the wall 4 opening into the distribution chamber 6. Two distributionpassages I3 and I4 (Figure 5) are provided in the upper half of the wall4. Passage I4 connects with port I5 `mounted to reciprocate in thecylinders 2 and 3 in the. cover which extends around b oss I0 and mergeswith the distributing head chamber I6 in the cover for cylinder 3.Passage I3 connects with the distributing head chamber I'I for cylinder2. A middle exhaust passage I9 provided in wall 4 communicates with bore26 in the boss 2| in the bottom cover, which serves as the outlet forthe meter, and distribution passages 22 and 23 in the lower half of wall4 connect respectively with distributing head chamber 25 for cylinder 3and distributing head chamber 26' for cylinder 2. A central bore 28,which serves as an exhaust port, connects with passage I9. The fourcored ports 3I, 32, 33 and 34 formed in the face of wall 4 surroundingbore 28, separated by ribs 35, 36, 31 and 38, merge with the passagesI3, I4, 22 and23 respectively, andY the face of wall 4 is recessed at 39to receive a valve seat member 40 with ports and ribs in communicationwith those of the casing.

The casing is bored transversely through the `Walls 4 and 5 and flangedbushings 42 and 43A are inserted in these bores with a pressed t. Acrankshaft 44 is journalled in the bushings and has secured thereto aworm 45 located in exhaust passageA I9* for driving the register, aswill hereafter appear. A bore 46 normally closed by a plug 41 isprovided in the outer wall to enable the drilling of the holes in theinner walls and insertion of the bushings and crankshaft. At each endcrankshaft 44 carries a crank arm 48 secured thereto` by a tapered pinr50 threaded into the crank arm` and extending through a transverse borein the crankshaft. Crank arms 48 are arranged 90 from each other andpreferably are shaped with a] mass 49 near the shaft to counterbalancethe moment of the crank arm. A crank pin 5I extends through a suitablebore in the crank arm and is held in place by a Cotter pin `52 or by anyother suitable means. Pins 5I carry a roller 53 thereon having acircumferential groove `54 in its periphery. Crank arm 48 at the otherend of the shaft carries a roller 58 in a similar manner.

There are two double acting pistons 66 and 6I respectively, and as thesepistons are alike in construction, only one will be described in detail.The piston 6I comprises a pair of spacer members 62 and 63, preferablymade of sheet metal turned over at their ends as indicated at 64, 65 andhaving the piston head assemblies 66 and 61 secured thereto. Piston headassembly 66 comprises a bottomV plateV 68 having a cupped Washer l0` ofleather or other suitable material thereon, a top backing plate 1|, anda third plate 14 having a plurality of offset tabs 12 which hold anendless coil spring 13 in position to resiliently expand the leatherwasher into engagement with the wall of the cylinder. A plurality ofrivets 15 holds the plate 68, washer 10 and top plate 1| assembled, andthe piston head 66 is held assembled to the spacers 62, 63 by the screws16. Piston 6| has similar heads 11 and 18 held in assembled relation tosimilar spacers 8| and 82.

Piston 6| has two spaced bars 84 and 85 extending through suitable holesin the sides of spacers 62 and 63, said bars having circumferentialgrooves at their outer ends, as indicated at 86 (Figure 6). In assembledposition a bent spring wire retainer 81 received in grooves 86y at eachend retains the bars against endwise movement. The bars receive therollers 54 and 58 on crank pins 5|' therebetween and are so disposed asto -provide a slight clearance therewith so that the rollers may freelyroll between the bars. If desired, sufficient clearance may be providedfor adjusting the accuracy of the meter. The laterally bent portions ofspacers 62, 63 and 8|, 82 engage the `bushings 43 and 42 respectivelyand serve to guide the piston against oscillating or turning movement inits reciprocation.

A valve member 85 is journalled loosely on the crankshaft 44 andcomprises a plate 86 having a supply port 81 and an integral housing 90covering an exhaust port 9|. Supply passage 81 extends circumferentialyfor slightly less than 90, or which is suicient to expose a port 33 andpart of two ribs 35 and 36. The exhaust port 9| also extendscircumferentially for slightly` less than 90. A driving member 92 isrigidly secured on the crankshaft by a set screw or in any othersuitable manner, and comprises bosses 93 and 94 spaced apart to receivethe bar 96 extending from the top of the valve member. Set screws 91 and98 threaded through the bosses engage bar 96 and provide an adjustabledriving connection between the crankshaft and valve whereby the timingof the valve may be accurately adjusted. A

dished star shaped spring is provided between zontally, this.counter-balance may be omitted,

if desired.

The casing is transversely bored at to receive a bushing |06 extendingthrough the exhaust passageway I9 and supply passage 23, said Ibushingbeing threaded at its outer end. A shaft |01, journalled in the bushing,carries a worm 'M wheel |08 at its inner end which meshes with the worm45 on the crankshaft, the outer end of this shaft passing through lastuffing box ||0 formed by a gland threaded on the end of bushing |06and carrying a worm A plate |I2 is secured to the casing by means ofscrews ||3 and spacers ||4 and a bracket ||5 is secured to the plate andis bored to receive a shaft carrying a Worm wheel ||8 at one end and apinion |20 at the other end meshing with a gear ||9. |2| is suitablysecured to the plate and has a shaft |22 extending therefrom carryinggear H9 thereon whereby the counter is driven.

In Operation the fluid to be metered enters at inlet v| through passageI2 into valve chamber 6 A counter and when inlet port 81 of the valve isin registration with supply passage 32, fluid is supplied throughpassage |4 to cylinder head distribution chamber I6 to force piston head66 downwardly. At the same time, the exhaust port 9| of the valve is incommunication with port 33 in the body so that uid from the cylinder`head distribution chamber 25 is exhausted through passage 22 intoexhaust passages 28 and I9 to the outlet 20 of the meter. In theposition shown in Figure 1 the upper piston 11 has completed its exhauststroke and the lower piston 18 has completed its intake stroke, andports 3| and 34 are closed by the imperforate portion of valve 86.Further downward movement of piston 66 brings valve port 81' incommunication with port 3| and passage I3 thus supplying fluid to thecylinder head distribution chamber l1 for piston 11, while exhaust port9| continues in communication with port 33 and uncovers port 34 to allowthe exhaust of fluid from the lower end of cylinder 2 until piston 11has reached the middle of its intake stroke. By this time valve port 81'has passed completely over port 32 and has uncovered port 3|, whileexhaust port 9| has completely passed over port 33 and is inregistration with port 34 ready to uncover port 32. Upon furthermovement of piston 11 port 32 is uncovered by the exhaust port 9| andport 33 is uncovered by inlet port 81. It is believed unnecessary tofurther trace the movements of the pistons and valve to completelyexplain the operation of the meter, as this will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art.

In the position shown in Figure l the piston 8| on the end of horizontalcrank arm 48 has a considerably greater moment than the piston 68 on thevertical crank arm 48. The counter- Weights 49 on the crank arm, inconjunction with the counterweight |02 on the valve driving member, tendto counterbalance the moment of the pistons so that no matter in whatposition of the piston the meter is stopped there will be no tendencyfor the meter pistons to drift by their own Weight and thus theirresistance to movement is substantially constant. The adjusting screws91 and 93 are provided to shift the angular relation between the valve86 and the driving member 92 so that the timing of the valve may beadjusted and port 81' will supply fluid to the proper cylinder atexactly the proper time and exhaust port 9| will exhaust fluid from theproper cylinder at the proper time. The structure of the pistons is suchthat they are not massive and therefore respond readily to low flows.The meter thus readily lends itself to applications where only arelatively small pressure head is available for operating the meter.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. A meter comprising a casing, a plurality of parallel cylinders and adistribution chamber formed in said casing, aligned bushings in thecylinder wall extending into the cylinders, a crankshaft extendingthrough said bushings into said cylinders and having crank arms at itsends, a conecting member in each cylinder having piston heads at itsends and being provided with a transverse track to receive said crankarms, said connecting members being provided with guide tracks toreceive said bushings and prevent turning of the pistons, and a valve insaid distribution chamber driven by said crankshaft.

2. A meter comprising a casing, a plurality of parallel cylinders formedin said casing and a distribution chamber between said cylinders,aligned bushings in said cylinder walls extending into the cylinders, acrankshaft extending through the distribution chamber and through saidbushings into said cylinders and having crank arms at its ends, aconnecting member in each cylinder having piston heads at its ends andbeing provided with a transverse track to receive said crank arms, saidconnecting members being provided with guide tracks to receive saidbushings and prevent turning of the pistons, said members beingconnected to the crank arms intermediate said piston heads, and a valvein said chamber driven by said crankshaft.

3. A meter comprising a casing having a plurality of parallel cylindersand a distribution chamber between said cylinders, a crankshaftextending through said distribution chamber into said cylinders andhaving crank arms at its ends, a piston member in each cylinderconnected to said crank arms, one wall of said distribution chamberhaving valve openings and an exhaust passage surrounding the crankshaftand distribution passages extending from the valve openings to the endsof the casing, a top cover for said casing having an inlet connected tosaid distribution chamber and distribution passages registering withthose in the casing, a bottom cover for said casing having an outletconnected with said exhaust passage and distribution passagesregistering with corresponding ones in the casing, and a valve in saidchamber driven by said crankshaft.

4. A meter comprising a casing, a plurality of parallel cylinders and adistribution chamber formed in the casing, a crankshaft extending intosaid cylinders and having crank arms at its ends, a pair of connectingmembers in each cylinder each constructed of a sheet metal portionforming a skirt for guiding the piston in its movement and having turnedover ends, piston heads connected to said ends, a pair of rods extendingthrough each pair of connecting members forming a slot therebetween, Vapin extending through each crank arm between said rods, and a roller oneach pin co-operating with said rods.

5. A meter comprising a casing, a plurality of parallel cylinders and adistribution chamber formed in the casing, aligned bushings in thecylinder walls, a crankshaft extending through said bushings and intosaid cylinders and having crank arms at its ends, a pair of connectingmembers in each cylinder each constructed of a sheet metal portionforming a guiding skirt and having turned over ends, piston headsconnected to said ends, a pair of rods extending through each pair ofconnecting members forming a slot therebetween, spring detents forretaining said rods in position, pins extending through said crank armsbetween said rods and rollers on said pins co-operating with said rods,said connecting members providing slots in which the bushings arereceived. I

HORACE CHRISMAN. GEORGE J. GENUNGT,

